Quarantine Protocol
by Gweneveire
Summary: They say hindsight is always 20/20. Looking back on it, I should have just let him get away. Whatever trouble it would have caused, being stuck here with him is infinitely worse. We have twenty four hours to wait and I think that when it's over only one of us will be alive. M for language.
1. Home Alone

**Home Alone**

I tilted my head to the side in a very Starfire-esque manor. The movement seemed appropriate, in an odd way. When I envisioned the relaxing day ahead when I awoke this morning, I certainly didn't see myself slumped on the couch in front of the TV, surrounded by a pizza box, my unfinished books, and my teacup, watching a fifth episode of Pretty Pretty Pegasus.

In my defense, I was bored. And they were having a marathon. I mean, Starfire followed the show religiously, perhaps there was something to it. After more than two hours chronicling the adventures of Butterbean and company, I better understood the hype: there was something inexplicably, strangely alluring about it.

At least it held my interest better than the books. I tried to think back to the last time I was without the team for this long and came up blank. I valued my alone time, but I figured today was just too much. Almost sixteen hours by myself in silence had left me looking for other ways of entertaining myself, thus the sudden interest in television.

Robin and Starfire were answering a distress call from Argent, Cyborg was helping update the Titans East security system, and Beast Boy was helping the Doom Patrol, his adoptive family, on a mission. That left lucky me to stay behind and watch over Jump City. Normally I'd be with Starfire and Robin right now, but as the Titans East were otherwise occupied and couldn't take our place in Jump, someone had to stay back. Of course Robin picked his girlfriend to accompany him to New Zealand. No surprise there.

Tearing my eyes away from the screen, I checked the time on my communicator. 11:19. Time for bed, finally.

As I stood I surveyed the mess around me. You know those times when you just don't feel like putting the effort into something? This was one of those times. As I was alone in the tower and would be for another few days, I didn't really feel the need to clean up the mess scattered around me.

I turned the TV off and tossed the remote on the couch as I sluggishly moved to the door. Near the entryway, I placed my hand on a sensor to activate the alarm system, as Cyborg had instructed. As soon as my handprint was cleared, I let my arm fall and dawdled into the hallway.

As I walked into the bathroom I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I could shower in the morning. Opting for the minimum, I picked up my toothbrush, smothered it in a glob of toothpaste, and jammed it in my mouth, finger-combing my short hair with one hand as I brushed with the other.

When I reached my room I flung my cloak on the back of my desk chair and collapsed into bed. Sighing, I massaged my temples and muttered my mantra a few times to relax myself. The bed was warm underneath me and my pillow cradled my head in just the right way.

I was too caught up in Pretty Pretty Pegasus to realize it, but I was exhausted. There better not be a single crime tonight. Everyone better stay in jail, keep their hands to themselves, and keep their eyes away from any jewelry stores or banks, because tonight I just wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

* * *

Tonight was the night. Sure, any mark is a rush of adrenaline for me, but anything to do with Bird Boy and his team gave me a special high. See, not only was I stealing something for my benefit, but I got to inflict a stab of payback for all the times the Titans have tried to interfere with my operations. Robin's a decent guy, but he's a pain in the ass when you're the one causing his alarm to ring.

This specific task was quite the assignment. An anonymous employer was willing to give me a half a million for some files in the Titans' Tower. A handsome bounty, I had to say. Of course I had to work for it—breaking into the home of five superheroes was no small feat—but when word started circulating that most of the team was out of town, my mission-mostly-possible turned into mission _absolutely_ possible.

I turned my cell phone over and over in my hands, ready to make the call. After dialing and waiting, a low, obviously altered voice came through the earpiece.

"What do you need?" Hmph. So much for pleasantries.

"Tell your boss I'm going in for the files tonight. I'll drop them off tomorrow morning using the protocol we talked about."

"No!" the voice hissed. Jesus, this man had no manners. Just because he was on the wrong side of the law didn't mean he had to act like a fucking dick.

"Hand them over as soon as you retrieve them or you won't get a dime," he growled.

Now he was starting to piss me off. It was a Saturday night. Right now I should be about two blocks from here at the bar, looking for some chick to lay. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't had sex in what, five days now? Was that right? Regardless, instead of fucking some half-drunk blonde, I was going to be breaking into a superhero fortress for papers that had nothing to do with me. The five hundred thousand was worth it, but the attitude and cloak and daggers routine was a real turn off.

"Fine. I'll give them to you ASAP. Just have the cash ready," I said as pleasantly as possible. Without waiting for a reply I hit the end button, terminating the call.

"Jackass," I muttered to myself as I yanked on my gloves and pulled the mask over my face. I went through my pre-heist checklist in my head. Suit? Check. Spare Xinothium? In my belt. Hijacked Titans' Tower security bypass codes? Memorized. I rested my hands on my hips as I stared at myself in my grungy bathroom mirror. For a guy who made millions, I still hadn't hired a maid.

I weighed the pros and cons of a cleaning service as I strode to my bedroom window, throwing it open and slipping into the cool night breeze.

* * *

My eyes flew open as my heart clenched. I sat up straight in bed, eyes darting nervously around the room. As always, my room was dark, quiet, and completely void of other inhabitants.

I brushed my hair out of my face and let the breath I didn't know I was holding in come rushing out. My brow furrowed. The jolt was strange: it wasn't like I had had a bad dream or something. The longer I sat in bed the more this _feeling_ inside me grew. It was unsettling.

Rolling off the bed and getting to my feet, I walked quietly over to the panel beside my door, checking out the tower's sensors. According to the system, nothing was amiss.

That should have been a relief. Instead the unease lingered. My mind was torn: return to the comfort of my bed or drag my tired behind through the tower looking for trouble that probably didn't exist. Against my better judgement, I slipped out into the hallway.

I always thought the tower was eerie at night, and tonight was no exception. It was dark, metallic, and cavernous; rather creepy when one was walking through it alone with a pit in their stomach. I moved quietly through the halls past each of my teammates' rooms, glancing inside each to find them untouched. I was just about to turn the corner to the hallway leading to the common room when I heard a rustling coming from that direction. I froze, pressing my back against the wall. Both fists alight with orbs of dark energy, I peered around the corner.

I had found Silkie.

He sat in the middle of the floor, rolling around like some kind of hairless, mutant cat. I sighed and rolled my eyes, moving to pick him up and take him back to my room with me. Although I had strongly protested adopting the thing as a pet, there was something comforting about having another creature around.

"What are you doing up?" I whispered to him as I scooped him into my arms. He cooed in his creepy, insect way and snuggled into my chest. As I turned back to retrace my steps to my room, I glanced at the common room door. I hadn't realized I had stopped walking, but I couldn't help staring at the entryway. On a whim, I moved close enough to the door for the motion sensor to detect me. As the door slid open I took a look around.

Moonlight poured through the large glass window, bathing everything in its milky glow. My eye was instantly, immediately drawn to the row of monitors in front of the window, the middle one of which was glowing with a more artificial light. There was a high back chair in front of it, legs visible underneath the seat.

Adrenaline struck, pushing its way through my veins and sending every sense into overdrive.

"Robin?" I asked slowly, knowing that it wasn't him but having to confirm it all the same. The chair turned slowly to reveal the person occupying it. The minute I caught sight of the white skull mask, my heart sank.

"Well," Red X grinned, "it looks like things just got interesting."


	2. Intruder Alert

**Intruder Alert**

The first question that floated through my head was _how_? How did Red X sneak into the tower undetected? The sensors had reported that everything was normal. Forget it, it didn't matter. If there was one thing I knew about our good friend X, it was that anything was possible.

"What are you doing here?" I barked, settling on asking my second question.

I could hear him chuckle across the room. "Wouldn't you like to know?" My eyes narrowed as he stood from the chair. To the untrained eye, his stance looked confident. Cocky, even. But I could see the nuances of his body language that made it a defensive stance.

Slowly, I bent down and set Silkie on the floor, giving him a pat to send him back out into the hallway. My eyes never left Red X. Trying to match his confidence, I gave him a small, slow smirk as my fists began to glow with energy. "I suppose it doesn't matter."

"You know, I didn't come for a fight, but if you want one, I can certainly deliver." The words rolled off of his tongue smoothly and echoed throughout the still, silent room. Neither of us moved a muscle at first. It was like we were in a stand-off, each assessing the other's threat. That was fine with me. I could wait. Red X, on the other hand, was practically bursting with impatience. He didn't want to make the first move, but I could sense he was tired of waiting.

My suspicions were confirmed when suddenly, he struck, three X-shaped shurikens hurtling towards my head. I threw up my arm, shielding myself with a band of dark energy. He wanted to play rough? Fine. Encased in energy, I threw the things back at him with just as much force.

He artfully dodged them and rolled to the floor, hand in belt. I took the opportunity to fly closer, ready to hurl a handful of Beast Boy's CD's from the nearest stand. Before I could aim them, he blasted some kind of goo at me, causing me to lose my balance in the air and stumble onto the floor. I tried to recover, but the sticky red substance held my feet in place.

"Sorry sunshine. Looks like you're grounded." I could just feel him grinning at me from underneath his mask.

I grit my teeth and glared at him. "You forget I can do more than just fly."

Never mind the CD's. I thrust my hand out, picking up the entire couch telekinetically and hurling it at him. He dove out of the way, but not in time to save his whole person. The couch hit his ankle with a crack that made me wince until I remembered who it was. It was hard to feel too sorry for him.

"Son of a bitch!" I hurt him gasp. Perhaps it made me a bad person, but I got a perverse satisfaction from those words uttered under these circumstances.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zin—" Unfortunately I never got the opportunity to finish the mantra or finish the battle, as a sticky Red X shot towards my face and clamped over my mouth.

Fantastic.

It wasn't that I couldn't do any magic without my mantra, but it made it extremely difficult to focus my energy and produce any meaningful results. X seemed completely aware of this as he stood, unsteadily, and hobbled over to me, binding my hands behind me with another sticky X.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take what I came for and leave," he said angrily as he limped back to the computer. Again, that twinge of satisfaction.

There was no way in hell I was letting him waltz into the tower and do... whatever it was he was doing. I would never hear the end of it from Robin. I closed my eyes, mustering all of the focus and concentration I could. I needed something sharp... _the shurikens_. I opened my eyes, spotted one lying abandoned on the floor, and brought it slowly to me.

My control over the object wasn't as precise as it usually was. As it teetered through the air towards me, I had second thoughts about using it to cut the bind on my hands. Was it worth losing a hand over? Probably not. I sighed and instead directed the object to my feet, resuming my quest to free them from the goo that bound them to the floor.

With the help from the blades to cut the tacky substance, I finally managed to free one foot, then the other. Now the only question was what to do with my newfound freedom.

It was obvious I couldn't fight him in this condition. It would take him approximately ten seconds to incapacitate me once again. But I had to capture him somehow. Whatever information he now had from the Titans' computer, it was likely harmful, confidential, or valuable. Or all of the above. I glanced at him and found him still typing furiously. He hadn't looked at me yet, which meant I had a short window of opportunity before he realized I was free.

Making the most of the time I had, I darted as quietly as I could over to the control panel by the common room doorway. I paused before it though, unsure of what to do. Setting off the security alarm was an option, although I had a feeling that when I brought the big guns out, he would simply press the little red x on his belt and poof himself out of here. Red X was cunning, but his motives were predictable. He was only looking out for himself in the end, and the minute he faced true bodily harm or defeat he had a habit of taking off.

The goal was containment. As soon as I thought that the solution came to me. I took a few more steps towards the panel before I felt something make contact with my side.

Judging from the pain and the way it sent me flying to the ground, I was assuming it was a kick from behind.

"You're just not going to make this easy on me, are you?" he sneered from above. I rolled my eyes.

Well, I didn't have my arms and I didn't have any magic, but I did have one weapon left. With a swift upward kick, I brought my foot between his legs. Robin always told me that when it came to criminals like these, you had to fight dirty.

He wasn't shy about vocalizing his pain. Ignoring his string of expletives and focusing instead on the fact he couldn't move, I made a dash for the panel, turning my back to the wall to press my hand against the sensor.

It felt like I was breaking my wrist to turn it so that my palm was flat, not to mention the rush of pain in my side from X's sharp kick. I grit my teeth as the sensor beeped, signaling that my ID was accepted. Whirling around, I pressed what I hoped was the right button just before Red X tackled me to the ground.

"This time, when I tie you down, stay down!" he barked, slapping several X's on my hands and ankles to pin me to the floor. Apprehension coursed through me until I heard the telltale signs of the protocol initiating. Even X's attention turned from me to the changing room we were in.

Metal slid over the walls, doors, air ducts, and window, blocking any means of escape. An alarm blared through the room, which was suddenly flooded with light from the emergency lights overhead. The man standing over me looked shocked, even with his face covered. Surprisingly enough, he didn't say anything body tensed for an impending attack. After the alarm shut off and he stood there for a few minutes, he looked down at me, finally finding some words.

"What the fuck?"

* * *

Hello there, sorry this is so obnoxiously expletive-ridden. I felt that it was important in Red X's character development, and hey, I did rate it M! Leave a note, let me know whatcha think!

XOXO Gwen


	3. Truce

**Truce**

I stared down at her, demanding an explanation. Despite her best efforts, she had lost our fight, though it seemed she had had one last trick up her sleeve.

"Mmmmph!" She glared at me from her position on the floor. Ah, yes, the X over her mouth. I pursed my lips as I weighed my options. Allowing her to talk meant allowing her to rattle off one of her little spells, and frankly I wasn't in the mood to fight. Especially not with my ankle swollen to the grapefruit-sized proportions it was currently at.

"You know what? I don't care. I have the information I came for, and now I'll be on my way." I grinned at her as she threw daggers at me and struggled with futility against her restraints. The things were designed for elephants; as far as I knew, Raven's greatest exhibit of physical strength was a few moments ago when she kicked me in the crotch. That still hurt too.

"It's been fun," I sneered at her, pressing the red X on the middle of my belt to transport me the hell out of here. Something was wrong. I thought I had pressed it, but here I was, still standing here over my Titanic conquest.

I pressed it again. And again. And again. Though I had figured out that it wasn't working after the second try, I kept jamming my finger against the button, hoping that it would magically start to work. I had no such luck.

I looked down at Raven to see her rolling her eyes at my desperate, futile pushing. Finally, I threw my hands up in defeat.

"What did you do?" I spat as I took an explosive out of my belt and chucked it at the door. It was just a test, as I was fairly confident of what the results would be, but I had to at least make the effort. As predicted, it left a nice scorch mark on the door but not a dent in the metal. I was trapped.

My attention once again turned to my little captive, who had ceased her squirming and looked at me with a smug expression. I knelt down and grabbed her jaw between my thumb and fingers.

"Listen," I hissed, "I'm going to take this thing off your mouth and you're going to tell me exactly what's going on here. And that's _all_ you're going to tell me." I squeezed her jaw tighter, letting her know I was serious. In a swift movement I tore the gag from her face with a painful ripping sound.

She clenched her jaw, but didn't say a word. It must have hurt like a bitch, but with a swollen crotch and a broken ankle, I didn't really give a shit about what kind of pain she was in.

"Talk. Now."

"It's no use trying to escape," she rushed to inform me. "I've initiated quarantine protocol, nothing gets in or out for twenty four hours." Even bound to the floor, she had a gleam of success in her eyes.

I stared at her in disbelief. "Let me get this straight. The Titans created a lockdown for twenty four hours where they can't even get out of their own tower?" She nodded. I was silent for a second. "Are you fucking insane?! Why the hell would you do that?" I was irate now, suspicions confirmed that I would be stuck in here for a day with Little Miss Sunshine until her team showed up to arrest me.

"To contain ourselves if the need arises," she spat out. "Our powers are dangerous if they get out of control." She paused, a smirk playing on her lips. "Though it's rather useful in a time like this."

I wanted to smack the smirk off of her face, though even I had better manners than that. The thought was tempting nonetheless.

"Well thank you Raven, for officially beating out Robin as the biggest pain in my ass." I reached for the X to secure over her mouth again in case she got any ideas that involved the words Azarath, Metrion, or Zinthos.

"Stop," she commanded as I held it over her lips. I paused, slightly interested in what she had to say. "That's unnecessary, I don't have my powers," she admitted. I narrowed my eyes as I studied her.

"Liar." The X came closer to her mouth.

"It's true," she spit out. "The protocol neutralizes our powers. You can't teleport, I can't do magic." I rocked back on my heels, incredulous once again.

"I repeat: why the hell would you idiots do that?"

She sighed. "The last time we initiated it, it wasn't long before we found a way around it. Cyborg enhanced it so that it neutralizes any special abilities and is impossible to break out of."

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn't see it. "Great," I muttered. I stood up unsteadily and hobbled towards the stairs, hoping to find some ice down below in the kitchen. Before I made it I stumbled forward, left foot darting forward instinctively. The pain when most of my weight landed on my bad ankle was almost as bad as it was when it broke.

I fell flat on my face, trying to keep from yelling in pain. Raven definitely saw that. Bitch was probably laughing.

I rolled onto my back and cradled the appendage to my chest. From the looks of it, it wasn't just broken, it was shattered, and I had just made things worse.

"X?" I heard her voice say the syllable softly, without a trace of the mockery I was expecting.

"What?" I groaned.

"I... I can help you, if you untie me," she offered. I snorted.

"Yeah, help me. What are you going to do? Finish me off? Put me out of my misery?" I winced as the throbbing in my ankle intensified.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you," she said, offended I could possibly think such a thing. "Well, not anymore at least," she added quietly. "We're stuck here for the next twenty four hours, so we might as well make an attempt at civility until that time elapses."

"You mean until your friends come to arrest me."

"Exactly." I looked over to find a soft smirk on her face.

My head was telling me no fucking way. What do I gain from releasing her? Some ankle TLC from Nurse Raven? I had been through worse, I could manage without her help. But for some odd reason, my gut told me that she was okay. Maybe it was her dark, stony exterior that made her seem a little less goodie-two-shoes or the fact that she, unlike myself, was committed and sworn to displaying some kind of ethics and decency.

"Fine," I sighed, rolling over and crawling back to her, wincing all the way. I took a small knife out of my pocket and began sawing away at her ankle restraints, moving up to get her arms when I was done.

She sat up slowly, clutching her side with one hand and rubbing her mouth that was still red with the other.

"Thanks," she said softly, avoiding eye contact.

On a whim, I held out my hand for her to shake. "Truce?"

She looked at the hand, then at me. Though there was a mask covering my face, I could've sworn she was looking right into my eyes. She took the hand lightly and gave it two small pumps.

"Truce. For now."

* * *

I stood up shakily, though I soon gained my footing. Red X watched me warily from the ground where he sat with his ankle drawn towards him. Though I didn't feel bad for him before, I felt a little guilty looking at the swelling joint. It looked downright nasty and I could imagine what it felt like: I had been there before, though not for long thanks to my powers.

The sympathy was good. I could use it to help sell the whole truce idea. What I had told him was mostly true: I had no powers, he had no powers, and we were stuck together with nothing to do but wait for hours and hours. Fighting would be futile and pointless, not to mention painful, and we both knew it. But my newfound freedom to move around was a definite advantage, and I planned on making use of it. Eventually.

X had assumed that when our time was up, my team would be here to confront him. That was not going to be the case, as I was all by myself in the Tower to begin with. If I was lucky, Cyborg would get a signal that the protocol had been initiated, raising some red flags and ensuring the return of at least one teammate when they found I was unresponsive. I couldn't count on it though, and thus had to come up with some other way to sound the alarm to my team, all without raising X's suspicions. Because if he knew there was a chance he could walk away after this, he would tape me down again and wait until the protocol lifted to make his easy escape. The only reason he was being so cooperative now was because he thought he was busted.

I made my way over to the fridge and pulled an ice pack from the freezer. I poured a glass of water and grabbed a first aid kit hidden in one of the kitchen cabinets while I was at it, carrying all three items over to X.

"Let me see it," I commanded, intent on following through on my half of the deal.

He obliged, sticking his leg out towards me. I sat back with my legs tucked under me, cradling his ankle in my lap. I set the ice pack on it as I dug through the kit for some Aspirin.

"Here," I said, holding out three pills and the water.

"I thought I was only supposed to take one." I shot him a look to chastise him for interfering with my work.

"Do you see the size of your ankle?" I muttered, turning my eyes back to his leg. "Swallow. Now."

My eyes shot up again when I heard a barely contained snicker. "What?" I snapped, eyes narrowing.

"Nothing," he replied smoothly in that metal-y altered voice. "Nothing at all."

I shook my head as I tried as gently as I could to remove his boot. I still heard him cuss under his breath.

"Do you have anything in your vocabulary other than four letter words?" I asked with feigned politeness.

"Hmm, let me think... bitch has five letters. B-I-T-C-H, bitch. I can even use it in a sentence, as in, 'that bitch threw a couch at my leg.'"

"Asshole."

"Prude."

"Bastard."

"Cunt."

My head snapped up once more to glare at him before returning to the task at hand, though this time with even less enthusiasm. I was slightly angry at myself for my behavior; I was sinking down to his level. I rolled up the cuff of his kevlar suit to fully expose his ankle. I tried not to cringe. It was completely black and blue and swollen to the size of a softball.

"You shouldn't have kept moving around on this."

"You're right," he sighed, "I should have just let you kick my ass."

"I've still beaten you now," I pointed out, hoping I sounded completely confident in that assertion.

"Ahh, so _that's_ why you're so eager to call a truce. What have you got to lose with four Titans on the other side of the door?" He paused. "Unless, of course, you're bluffing," he said, voice low.

My cheeks burned with heat. Was he taking a swing in the dark, or did he actually know we're all alone here?

"Rumor had it you five were supposed to be out of town, though you didn't exactly make it public knowledge. Actually, I was surprised to find you here."

I stared at him intensely. Even though I was nervous, the only thing I conveyed in my glare was confidence. "You're right," I admitted, "I'm the only one home. But don't worry, we have twenty four hours. They'll be back to arrest you before the protocol lifts." I gave him a pleasant smile at the end.

"Hmph," he grunted, but didn't say anything else. I noticed half of the water in his glass was gone as I pulled the bandage from the white plastic box.

"This will hurt," I said flatly as I began to wrap the stretchy strip of fabric around the arch of his foot, working my way up.

"Great," he muttered, then stiffened as I reached the ankle. I tried to work as quickly and neatly as possible, pulling the bandage taut against his skin. I ran out of roll a little ways up his shin and secured it with two clips.

"There," I said tersely, putting away my supplies and snapping the case shut. I rose quickly and turned on my heel, tossing the case on the kitchen counter as I strode by. I sauntered over to the couch, plopping down with a sigh and going to far as to stretch my feet up onto the table. I knew he could see me.

"What are you doing?" he asked from where I was sure he was stuck on the floor.

I picked up one of the books I had left there earlier and flipped to where I had left off. "I'm going to read. Any other questions?"

I could hear him muttering something, though I couldn't make out what and frankly didn't care. So far this truce was working just fine for me.

* * *

AN: When I started writing fan fiction I tried really hard to respond to everyone's reviews and be all responsible but I have been so terribly bad about it that I've just given up. Please know, dear friend, that from the bottom of my heart I am so very, very thankful and appreciative of your words of praise. Give yourself a hug for me (but don't get too crazy). Love you all!

XOXO Gwen


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